The Senate has passed a budget resolution which will lead to House and Senate committees working on legislation to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act. A late night vote on Wednesday saw the Senate vote 51 to 48 in favor of the resolution. The House is expected to take up the legislation Friday, January 13.

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The vote was eventually passed in the early hours of Thursday after Democrats forced nearly seven hours of voting in the so-called “vote-a-rama." The vote does not repeal Obama's law, but it allows Republicans to clear the first procedural hurdle.

As NBC News reports, Democrats who opposed repealing Obamacare staged a protest during the vote and dedicated their votes to the people they say will be most harmed by repealing Obamacare.

"The Senate just took an important step toward repealing and replacing Obamacare by passing the resolution that provides the legislative tools necessary to actually repeal this failed law while we move ahead with smarter health care policies," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement after the vote.